Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) of Singapore on May 25 predicted that the country's GDP growth this year may reach only 3-4 percent, lower than the previous forecast of 3-5 percent for this year.

In a statement released the same day, the ministry said that Singapore maintained its 3-5 percent economic growth forecast for 2022, but warned that growth will likely come in at the lower half of the forecast range because of the impact of the war in Ukraine and China's strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

The conflict has disrupted the global supply of energy, food and other commodities, which has in turn exacerbated global inflationary pressures and adversely affected the growth of many economies, said the statement released with the first-quarter 2022 Economic Survey of Singapore.

The ministry said that as a result of the war and lockdowns, global supply disruptions are likely to be more severe and prolonged than earlier expected, potentially persisting throughout 2022.

The survey showed that in the first quarter of 2022, the Singaporean economy grew 3.7 percent on a year-on-year basis, moderating from the 6.1 percent expansion in the previous quarter, but higher than the 3.4 percent previously estimated.

On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, the economy expanded by 0.7 percent, lower than the 2.3 percent growth recorded in the previous quarter./.